Winch Capacity?

[Knot Waiting]

This past summer I had the wonderful experience of my winch snapping and sending my boat careening down onto the launch. Tore the saftey chain clean out of the trailers mount too. Awesome. It wasn't like the strap broke or anything but the whole winch. Looks like the ratchet dog/lock completely inverted itself and let the gear freewheel itself unwound. In any event, I need a new winch and in light of the situtation I want a winch I can trust. I cannot find any markings on the boat indicating weight so does anyone have a recomendation on the capacity of a single or dual speed hand crank trailer winch? Thanks.

Boat: 1988 23' Crown Line Cuddy Cabin
Drive: Mercruiser 350 w/ Alpha 1
Fuel: 50gal
Gear: 300lbs (including beer/ice, tools, anchors, etc)
Captain: 225lbs (not including food, etc in captain, lol)

Note, the crew is always off the boat while winching so it is not a factor. Also, lets plan on the foam being fairly dry per my knowledge of the craft. No need to get overly complex with "what if's"

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Winch Capacity?

3500 lb winch should do it but more wouldn't hurt.... you could honestly even use up to 10,000 lb but you don't need to.... get a name brand tho.... avoid the cheap chinese stuff

make sure the boat is solid against the stop....bouncing down the highway is really hard on a winch.